Next story in Mideast & N. Africa

Video: Tunisians enraged over elite’s excess

Closed captioning of: Tunisians enraged over elite’s excess

>>>there have been new demonstrations in
tunisia
this morning following last week's uprising to oust the nation's president.
richard engel
is in
tunisia
this morning with the latest on this story. richard, good morning.

>>good morning. those protests were relatively small. there were some shots fired in the air, but the international effort right now is focused mainly on recovering the billions of dollars allegedly stolen by the former tunisian president and his wife. in a popular revolt unseen in the
middle east
in decades, tunisian demonstrators ousted one of the region's most unpopular dictators. his hated wife may be the real reason
tunisia
's repressive regime fell so hard and so fast. a one-time
hair dresser
, she is widely accused of using old-fashioned mafia tactics to lavishly enrich herself and family. press reports say in a final grab, she stole $65 million in gold bars from
tunisia
's
central bank
before escaping with her husband to
saudi arabia
. and while the former first couple escaped, many of their relatives were too slow. the tunisian government said it detained 33 of them, most as they tried to leave.
state television
displayed jewelry, bank records and
credit cards
. the
tunisian people
are taking a more direct approach to reclaim what they consider stolen funds.

>>this is our money.

>> reporter: the police here aren't even bothering to stop the looters.

>>most of the anger here has been directed at the family. their houses are the only ones that are being looted and destroyed. many tunisians say this government fell largely because of the greed of the president's wife. at a nearby cafe, now reopened, as calm is returning here, nearly everyone has a personal story about them.

>>she went until, you know -- at one point, they were controlling 60% of the economy.

>> reporter: they owned everything from banks to
coffee shops
.

>>if you want to invest in something, they would ask you to invest. otherwise, they won't let you do it by yourself.

>> reporter: a
private school
she wanted to build. but when they found out about the school project, she insisted on becoming a partner and then forced the woman out. could you have a successful business in
tunisia
and not make her your partner?

>>no.

>> reporter: you couldn't do it?

>>no.

>> reporter: she may have also had ambitions beyond money. most tunisians believe that the former first lady had already sidelined her 74-year-old husband and wanted to become president herself in
2014
. comparisons are already being made here to the philippines' former first lady and politician
amelda marcos
. another newspaper has been less kind than that, dubbing her the lady mcbeth of the country.

A Tunisian soldier talks with a woman during the sanitary service clean out in the Kasbah district after Tunisian inhabitants of Sidi Bouzid and protesters were evacuated following clashes with security forces in front of the government palace on Saturday, Jan. 29 in Tunis. Riot police and hundreds of protesters clashed in the Tunisian capital on January 28, 2011, as a new cabinet was sworn into office in a bid to end the unrest that has followed president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's ouster. Security forces fired warning shots and tear gas, as some groups threw stones in the main government quarter where protesters have remained camped out in front of Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi's offices for five days.
(Fethi Belaid / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Tunisian riot police use their shields for cover during clashes with demonstrators after they stormed a protest camp outside the prime minister's office in Tunis on Jan. 28.
(Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A man reads a newspaper with a story about the new ministers that have been put in the Tunisian government, at a street kiosk in downtown Tunis on Jan. 28. The Tunisian government ditched loyalists to its ousted president on Thursday -- a move which won backing from the powerful labor union and could help defuse protests.
(Louafi Larbi / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Tunisian students are blocked by security forces as they demonstrate in front of the Justice ministry in Tunis on January 27. Thousands took to the streets of Tunisia to call for old regime politicians to be ousted after the fall of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, as the cabinet prepared a reshuffle.
(Fethi Belaid / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Tunisian protesters pull away barbed wire to let through the protesters on the other side of the police barricade near government offices in the Kasbah, the old city of Tunis, Jan. 27. Police blocked several roads leading up to the Kasbah in the Tunisian capital Tunis on Jan. 27 after a day of violent clashes on Jan. 26 between demonstrators and security forces who fired tear gas and left several people injured.
(Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Protesters help municipality workers clear up piles of rubbish on the streets left behind by fellow protesters who spent the night outside the prime minister's office in the Kasbah, the old city of Tunis Jan. 27.
(Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Policemen try to calm down a pro-government protester as he shouts towards anti-government protesters during a demonstration in central Tunis on Tuesday, Jan. 25. Hundreds of Tunisians rallied on Tuesday in support of the interim government formed after the ousting of president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, but later clashed with protesters demanding a purge of former regime loyalists.
(Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A man cuts himself with scissors as he protests outside the once feared Tunisian Interior Ministry. The man was placated by citizens and suffered no serious injuries on Jan. 25, in Tunis, Tunisia.
(Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A boy hangs from the door as he shouts slogans during an anti-government demonstration in central Tunis on Jan. 25.
(Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Inhabitants of the central Tunisia region of Sidi Bouzid chant slogans during a demonstration in front of the Government palace in Tunis on Jan. 23. The protesters came from a poverty-stricken rural region where the crackdown against protesters in the final days of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's 23-year regime was at its harshest.
(Fethi Belaid / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Protesters who marched from the rural areas of Tunisia as part as the 'Liberation Caravan' take a rest outside the prime minister's office on Jan. 23, in Tunis, Tunisia.
(Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Tunisians light candles during a nighttime vigil in downtown Tunis, Jan. 22. Protesters in Tunisia, emboldened by their overthrow of the president a week ago, took to the streets Saturday to try and force out his lieutenants, whom they accuse of clinging to power in the face of popular anger.
(Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Tunisian soldiers stand guard near the Prime Minister's office during a demonstration in Tunis, Jan. 22. Tunisia's interim prime minister promised to quit politics after the elections, a pledge intended to appease protesters demanding remnants of the old guard leave a unity coalition formed after the overthrow of the president.
(Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Police officers celebrate as they demonstrate in Tunis, Saturday, Jan. 22. Tunisia's once-feared police who carried out the repressive policies of their now exiled president are joining hands with protesters who brought down the dictator.
(Christophe Ena / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A protester gestures in front of the headquarters of the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) party of ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali during a demonstration in downtown Tunis on Jan. 20, 2011.
(Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

People demonstrate on Jan. 20 in Tunis against the former president's Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) in a new wave of anger about the presence of RCD stalwarts in the transitional government.
(Martin Bureau / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Protesters kiss and embrace soldiers during a demonstration in Tunis on Jan. 20. Some observers have said that the army's restraint has helped to keep protests from escalating.
(Martin Bureau / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Interim President Fouad Mebazaa (fifth from right) and Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi (bottom left) attend the first session of the newly appointed transitional cabinet on Jan. 20 at the government palace in Tunis.
(Fethi Belaid / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A soldier pushes back a protester as he shows that he is unarmed during a demonstration in front of the headquarters of the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) party on Jan. 20. Police fired shots into the air to try to disperse hundreds of protesters demanding that ministers associated with the ousted president leave the government.
(Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Family of Mohamed Bouazizi pray and mourn at his grave in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid on Wednesday, Jan. 19. Bouazizi, a vegetable salesman, set himself on fire on Dec. 17, igniting protests that forced ex-president Zine al-Abdine Ben Ali to flee the country.
(Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A man looks at inscriptions written on the walls in the scorched and looted home belonging to the nephew of ousted Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Hammamet, southeast of Tunis on Jan. 19.
(Martin Bureau / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Protesters carry a coffin symbolizing the death of the Constitutional Democratic Rally party of ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali during a demonstration in downtown Tunis on Jan. 19. Hundreds of protesters demonstrated in the Tunisian capital on Wednesday to demand the dismissal from the new coalition government of ministers associated with ousted president Ben Ali.
(Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A woman reacts during a demonstration against the Constitutional Democratic Rally party of deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in central Tunis on Jan. 19.
(Thibault Camus / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A protestor throws back tear gas at the police during clashes after a demonstration against the Constitutional Democratic Rally, RCD, party of Ben Ali in the center of Tunis on Tuesday, Jan. 18. Four ministers quit Tunisia's day-old government on Tuesday, undermining its hopes of quelling unrest by sharing power with members of the opposition to the old regime. Clashes broke out in central Tunis around the time the resignations were announced, as police fought off protesters demanding that the new cabinet be purged of the old guard that served Ben Ali.
(Christophe Ena / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Protestors hold bread as they face riot police officers during a demonstration against the Constitutional Democratic Rally, RCD, party of Ben Ali in the center of Tunis, on Jan. 18. 2011. Four ministers quit Tunisia's day-old government on Tuesday, undermining its hopes of quelling unrest by sharing power with members of the opposition to the old regime. Clashes broke out in central Tunis around the time the resignations were announced, as police fought off protesters demanding that the new cabinet be purged of the old guard that served Ben Ali.
(Christophe Ena / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A man lies injuried during a demonstration in Tunis on Jan.18. Riot police fired tear gas and clashed with protesters on January 18 at a small protest rally against Tunisia's new government in the centre of the capital, AFP reporters on the ground saw. Around 100 protesters chanted slogans against the RCD party of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. "We can live on bread and water alone but not with the RCD," they said. Riot police dispersed the rally -- one of several expected.
(Fred Dufour / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Tunisian opposition figure Moncef Markouzi celebrates is he is welcomed by supporters, after arriving at the international airport of Tunis on Jan. 18, 2010. Tunisia's day-old government was shaken by the resignation of four ministers on Tuesday, undermining its hopes of quelling simmering unrest by sharing power with members of the opposition to the old regime.
(Thibault Camus / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A demonstrator reacts as security forces use water canons to disperse protesters downtown Tunis on Monday, Jan. 17. Police disperesed crowds after demonstrators took to the streets demanding that the ruling party of the ousted president give up power.
(Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

People demonstrate in central Tunis on Jan. 17. Tunisian protesters called for the abolition of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's ruling party amid a chaotic power vacuum as politicians prepared a government of national unity. Hundreds of people rallied in Tunis and there were similar protests in Sidi Bouzid and Regueb in central Tunisia - two towns at the heart of the movement that forced Ben Ali to resign and flee on Friday after 23 years in power.
(Fred Dufour / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A demonstrator argues with a policeman during a protest in central Tunis on Jan. 17. Hundreds rallied in central Tunis on Monday to demand the abolition of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's ruling party. Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi was a close ally of Ben Ali and held talks with opposition parties on Sunday to form a national unity government.
(Fred Dufour / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Tunisian Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, left, speaks with Tunisian interim President Foued Mbazaa upon his arrival at the Prime Ministry at the Casbah, in Tunis, Tunisia, on Jan 17. The army continued to patrol the streets as the country awaited the formation of a new national unity government. Tanks were still being deployed on the main avenue in Tunis and army helicopters flew over the city as the administration of interim President Foued Mabazaa sought to stamp out the lawlessness that took hold after longtime leader Zine el-Abidine ben Ali abruptly left power on Jan. 14.
(EPA)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Protestors greet soldiers during a demonstration against former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the center of Tunis on Jan. 17. Helicopters circled overhead as police used tear gas to break up a demonstration on the main avenue in central Tunis.
(Christophe Ena / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

People view the ransacked home of Kaif Ben Ali, nephew of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, in the Mediterranean resort of Hammamet, about 40 milesfrom the capital on Sunday, Jan. 16. Several hundred people filed through the home of Kaif Ben Ali, taking photographs, picking up plants as souvenirs and stripping out plumbing fixtures, two days after the president was ousted. The home was also set ablaze, according to witnesses.
(Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A woman tries to convince army soldiers to allow her to cross a street in Tunis on Saturday, Jan. 15. Hundreds of soldiers patrolled the streets of the Tunisian capital on Saturday where the prime minister was met opposition parties in an attempt to form a coalition after protests swept the president from power.
(Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A protester hits a policeman during clashes with riot police in downtown Tunis on Friday, Jan. 14. Tunisian President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali stepped aside on Friday after failing to quell the worst anti-government unrest in his two decades in power.
(Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Protesters carry an unconscious woman during clashes with riot police in the downtown of the capital Tunis on Jan. 14.
(Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Women run during clashes with riot police in downtown Tunis, Jan. 14. Tunisian President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali declared a state of emergency on Friday and warned that protesters would be shot in an increasingly frantic effort to quell the worst unrest in his two decades in power.
(Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, center, addresses the nation on state television Friday. He said that he had taken over as interim president after Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had left the country.
(Channel 7 / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Plain clothed police and riot police officers clash with demonstrators in Tunis. Tunisia's president left the country as gunfire echoed in the North African country's usually calm capital.
(Christophe Ena / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Demonstrators gather in front of the interior ministry in Tunis on Friday demanding President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali resign. Thousands of angry demonstrators marched through Tunisia's capital a day after the country's autocratic leader appeared on TV to try to stop deadly riots that have swept the North African nation.
(Fethi Belaid / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

People wait in front of the departure gate at the airport in Tunis on Friday. The army took control of the main international Tunis Carthage airport on January 14 and the country's airspace was shut down, an airport source told AFP, as weeks of unrest escalated.
(Fred Dufour / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali addresses the nation on Thursday. Ben Ali, facing a wave of violent unrest, said he would not change the constitution to allow him to run again when his term expires in 2014.
(Handout via Reuters)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A demonstrator injured in clashes with security forces on
Sunday in Regueb, near Sidi Bouzid. Protests sparked by high youth unemployment spread from the central town of Sidi Bouzid to other parts of the country.
(EPA)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

A child holds a sign asking for the release of people kept in custody by police following recent protests, during a demonstration in Tunis on Jan. 8.
(Hassene Dridi / AP)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Lawyer Abderrahman Ayedi takes off his shirt during a meeting in Tunis on Dec. 29 to show to human rights activist and lawyer Radhia, second from right, marks on his body. He said that he had been subjected to torture the previos day after he was arrested by police.
(Fethi Belaid / AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, second from left, meets patient Mohamed Bouazizi during a visit at the Ben Arous hospital near Tunis on Dec. 28. Bouazizi, a 26-year-old university graduate, had set himself on fire in a protest over unemployment, sparking a wave of unrest and clashes.
(Handout via AFP - Getty Images)
ShareBack to slideshow navigation

Editor's note:
This image contains graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing.

Interactive: Tunisia protests, country profile

TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisia's fragile new government emerged from its first meeting Thursday hopeful that it can re-unite a country scarred by deadly riots, and calm compatriots still seething at the party that reigned supreme for 23 years.

The army fired warning shots to calm a noisy but peaceful protest in front of the long-ruling RCD party's headquarters, where demonstrators took down a huge sign and demanded that the government — dominated by members of the old guard — be dismantled, too.

Ministers in the multiparty Cabinet met for four hours Thursday afternoon and came out showing a united front.

The government suggested that Islamists imprisoned under ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali would be amnestied. It pledged to make security the top priority, to prepare for new presidential elections and speed up political reforms, new government spokesman Tayyib Al Bakouchi told reporters.

The ministers pledged to restore goods and real estate appropriated by the ruling party under Ben Ali, to reopen schools shuttered by violence and remove security forces stationed at universities.

"We will not sleep until normalcy returns to all aspects of life in country," Al Bakouchi said.

Education Minister Naguib Ahmed Ibrahim said that all political prisoners would be released no matter what their ideology. While he didn't use the word Islamist, that was widely understood to mean activists banned or jailed under Ben Ali and the country's strict anti-terrorism laws.

"Of course I am optimistic," said Ahmad Ouaines, under secretary of state of the government. "We believe in speaking to the people. The progression is like a speedy express train."

Sleim Emama, a blogger who was named to the government this week, tweeted throughout the meeting and at the end told reporters, "This is a good government."

Tensions remained in the country, however.

Earlier Thursday, the army fired a barrage of warning shots in the capital as demonstrators converged on the headquarters of the RCD party. Protesters dismantled the sign bearing its name, carrying off pieces of its red letters.

The building was being protected by an army tank in addition to numerous trucks and troops.

Demonstrators have criticized the country's new unity government for being mostly made up of politicians from the RCD, which was founded by Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday.

Another demonstrator said the protests will continue until all ministers and members of parliament with links to the RCD party are removed from power.

"This revolution cannot be stolen from us, and we will not tire from demonstrating, and we will come out everyday if we have to," said Mohsen Kaabi, 55, a former military officer.

The caretaker government is now struggling to calm this moderate Muslim nation on the Mediterranean Sea, popular among European tourists and seen as an ally in the West's fight against terrorism.

In a sign of the difficulties facing the government, one minister, a former member of the ruling party, resigned Thursday before the Cabinet meeting, the official TAP news agency said. Zouheir M'dhaffer was a member of Ben Ali's party but was not considered close to the ousted leader. Four other ministers resigned earlier in the week.

Several members of the interim government who belonged to the RCD quit the party. Following the resignations, the party dissolved its central committee, according to TAP.